Listening to Pat McFadden read out Peter Mandelson's statement on the future of the Royal Mail in the Commons, I got the impression it was going down far better with the Tory MPs than with Labour ones. Edward Leigh, the Conservative rightwinger who tried to privatise the Post Office when he was a minister 15 years ago, said: "I welcome New Labour to the Thatcherite wing of the Conservative party." Ouch.

The Communication Workers' Union has just issued a statement condemning the report and it says that it will be making a further comment once it has studied the findings in detail. By then, I expect, there will be even more fury. The report itself is runs to 167 pages – you can read it here – and, having skimmed it very quickly, the impression it gives is that postal workers are overpaid, workshy luddites.

On pay, it says they get more than the going rate:

Research conducted for the current price control found "substantial evidence to suggest that, on average across the country, Royal Mail currently pays above market average rates". This study found that base pay for operational grades is between 6% and 25% above median base pay in comparable roles across all sectors, and above the top quartile base pay in some sectors. The most recent economic data continues to support this view. Full-time pay is 20% higher for Royal Mail employees than other postal workers.

On working practices, it says workers often get away early:

It has been common practice that postal workers go home when they have finished their round. In the summer or on certain days of the week when volumes are low, this can be up to three hours before their paid hours have ended. If, however, additional time is needed to complete a round, overtime can be claimed or the round not completed.

And, on modernisation, it says – astonishingly – that postal workers are wasting up to three hours a day doing a task done by machine in continental Europe.

Letters are prepared for delivery in two, separate procedures: walk-sorting, and walk-sequencing. In the first, Royal Mail uses machines in its mail centres to sort 70% of letters into groups which correspond with the addresses covered by each postal worker's "walk". This is a substantial improvement from 50% just two years ago, but is still markedly lower than the 95% managed by leading European operators. In the second procedure, walk-sequencing, letters are placed in the correct sequence for delivery. At Royal Mail, this is carried out entirely by hand. It takes each postal worker between two-three hours each morning before starting his or her delivery round. The leading European companies use walk-sequencing machines to perform the same job automatically for around 85% of their mail.

The report does say that the Royal Mail intends to introduce walk-sequencing for 75% of letters by 2012-13. The fact that the Royal Mail is so far behind best practice is, presumably, a management failure, not an employee one, although the report also criticises the CWU for being resistant to new technology.